The primary foods of the Anishinaabeg were
taken from the land and waters where we lived.
Fish was the main food but we did
eat meat by hunting for moose, bear, deer, fowl and other small game animals. In the spring and summer we farmed by
planting corn, squash and beans but we also gathered acorns, berries, wild rice
and other plants. Plants and meats were dried and stored to be used thru the
long winter ahead. Since the Anishinaabeg were a nomadic people,
we made use of all parts of the animals and plants. Animal hides were use to make clothing and
moccasins, and the bones were used for tools and ornaments. We also used every part of the plants making
teas and medicines from leaves and roots.
The plants roots were eaten for food like cattail root are a taste
vegetable and the leaves were used to make mats for our lodges and are still being made
and used this very day. Berries are good
eating fresh or dried and added much flavor to soups and meats. Berries were also useful in the making of medicines
to dying baskets. The blueberry also called the star berry a gift from our
Creator to ease hunger in hard times.
The juice is use to relieve coughs also used in dying cloth and
baskets. Berries are used in cooking dried or fresh
they add a lot of flavor and vitamins.
The cranberry was used as a poultice to draw poison from cuts to arrow
wounds; It too can be used for dying
cloth, rugs and blankets. Cranberries are mixed with venison to make
pemmican which we eat to this day and each family has a special recipe.

Medicines
are also derived from trees the wood or leafs which can be boiled for tea to
treat many ailments. You may ask why
Anishinaabeg people adopted this life style.
Our belief is the Creator place us here to care for our Mother the Earth
and to enjoy the gifts she shares with us. We follow nature’s path harvesting
and hunting not depleting our natural resources making sure there will be some
for future generations to come. You may
wonder why I wrote this little history lesson but I believe it lets you know
the things I care about and what I’ll be writing about. So I am hoping to be
helpful in answering any questions you have.

Aanii my name is Mary ( Lucia ) Lynn and my Spirit Name is Waabiinongkwe and a tribal elder of Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. I was born and raised in the upper peninsula and attended boarding schools in Harbor Springs Michigan and Hot Springs South Dakota. I have lived in many places but prefer Michigan because of the changing of the seasons.

I started out in Detroit as a Hairdresser, a job I truly loved.
Then I moved to Laredo Texas to be with my brother and his family,
watching his children grow up to become fine adults. I worked for him as a truck broker but also continued styling hair and attended college part time. While living in Laredo, I adopted my daughter Patricia at the age of thirteen. She
has growing up to be a fine woman that put herself thru college and is
becoming a Teacher and is active in our community . She's has given me
two beautiful grandchildren Zachary and Tiffany, they are in their teens now and I am so proud of
them.

With my niece, nephews and daughter growing up and moving on
with their lives I decided it was time for me to move back to Michigan.
Since my step Fathers death, my Mother had moved in with us so it was
important that I move somewhere she would be able to reconnect with
people she knew. I decided to seek out housing on the Saginaw Chippewa
Indian Reservation because it was centrally located and my Mother had
attended the Indian Boarding School there in Mount Pleasant.

After
settling in, we were asked to help out with canning At the Seventh
Generation program also to help teach sewing. We were happy to be of
service since it is part of our teachings. After a few years of
volunteering this became a job for me and I can only describe it as an
in House Grandma's job. I was the cook there, cooking for Feasts
and any events that we hosted or ones other programs held in the
community building. I also taught four cooking classes during the
school year teaching young people how to cook from scratch. I also held
canning and cooking classes for community members.

The one thing I am
must proud of was the work I did with the Women's Circle it is in my
opinion the most important thing women can be involved with. The Circle
is so many things but to have your sisters there to support you in your
times of joy or sorrow, sharing each other knowledge, what a blessing that
is. Well now I am retired but I attend Odawa Language classes and
events here at my Reservation or near by.

Wasson requests that you please read the articles from the April 2013 Little Traverse Bay Bands Newletter, I am unable to reproduce them here as they are in PDF format and copyrighted material. ~ Melanie Fish

I have provided the link below to take you to the website. Click on the link at the very top of the page "April 2013"

LTBB Becomes Only Third Tribe in the U.S. and the Only Tribe in the State of Michigan To Recognize Same Sex Marriage

LTBB Tribal Citizen Tim LaCroix and Gene Barfield First Same Sex Legally Married Couple in the State of Michigan

Wasson Speaks:

"My Tribe the LTBB just passed into law Gay Marriage endorsement
for our people. At least one of the couple needs to be a [tribal] citizen here,
and we have already had at least one wedding. The latest issue of our newsletter
has the full story.

As far as we know we are only the third Tribe in the Nation
to have such a tribal law. Its crazy because I was offline for only a
week and gone a week in Canada and I get on and see all these = symbols
on everyone Facebook page. I am not sure what caused the recent Facebook awareness....but I think its great. Our new statute barely passed with
a vote of 5 to 4 and the tribal chairman could have vetoed it and he didn't.

Now my opinion about this issue is mostly obvious. All the
reasons that I have read on Facebook that support gay right
to marriage I totally agree with, but our tribe has become split on the
issue. I have to think its still residual effects because of Holy
Childhood Boarding school that is still just down the road. I excuse
those people because I understand the reason for thinking as because of
the trauma from those not so distant days of the boarding school. Our
traditional cultural people have always been accepting of everyone even
when they have more lessons to learn. Look at the example of
alcoholics, our people don't usually turn our backs on those people, but
rather wait until they learn what they need to become strong whole
humans. So it doesn't matter whether you agree or disagree with gay
right to marriage, its really so individual, we have absolutely no right
to impose on their life journey. I am indifferent, I neither agree or
disagree, because its non of my business. But I do support individuals
to live in the way they believe
is natural for them. Choice or not doesn't matter to me. I accept gay
people or straight people, what I don't accept is mean people."

Renee
Wasson Dillard is an
artist and teacher whose work reflects her rich heritage and respect for the
gifts she has received. An Odawa women
and a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Renee is also of
Celtic Heritage. This lends to her
unique perspective of Native community, and of community as a whole, as well as
the traditional Native values she makes a part of her everyday life. Raised within Michigan’s Native community, Renee has been a
participant in traditional and contemporary Native activities and gatherings
through out her life. She is an
accomplished dance, trader, artist and teacher who works to provide clearer
insights of Native people and to promote understanding and respect between all
people.

She is the Artist/Basket weaver/Fiber artist/Owner of A Basket Case - Where she sells her Black Ash Baskets and other fiber art items and runs workshops teaching her art to other communities. She is also the winner of the 2010 Michigan Heritage Award for her lifetime contribution to promoting and teaching the continuance of Black Ash Basketry , finger-weaving and other fiber arts.

I am not an elder... I am an elder - in - training lol. But I wanted to include this page for some community Elder women to talk about current issues in our communities. Why just Elder Women? Because they do not get as many chances to voice their wisdom publicly as often as the menfolk because they are taking care of the children, other elders and family.

The words that they post here will be their own, they will email me their posts and I will post them as is on this blog. We have not decided on a time frame for posts as these elders are active running ceremonies and community activities, talking circles, and other things as well as having jobs and families to care for. These women are knowledgeable about traditional Anishinabeg matters, they are involved in the traditional life ways of our people daily. They are seen as Elders by their community, and are Elders in wisdom - culture bearers not just age.